Sunday marked the end of China’s almost three years of self-imposed isolation, even as the country battles an increase in Covid cases. The quarantine requirements for travelers entering the country were lifted.
The first arrivals expressed relief at not having to go through the exhausting quarantines that were common in zero-Covid China.
In addition, over 400,000 individuals were anticipated to travel north over the next eight weeks in Hong Kong, where the border with mainland China was reopened after years of closure.
A hardline zero-Covid strategy that had imposed mandatory quarantines and punitive lockdowns was abruptly dismantled in Beijing last month.
The policy had a significant impact on the second-largest economy in the world and caused resentment throughout society, which resulted in nationwide protests just before it was relaxed.
A woman by the name of Pang told AFP on Sunday that she was thrilled with the ease of travel at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.
She stated to AFP, “I think it’s really good that the policy has changed now, it’s really humane.”
“I believe it is a necessary step. She stated, “After this hurdle, everything will be smooth because Covid has become normalized.”
When officials announced last month that quarantine would be lifted, Chinese people rushed to make travel plans, driving up the number of inquiries on popular travel websites.
However, as the world’s most populous nation battles its worst-ever outbreak, more than a dozen nations have mandated Covid tests for travelers from that nation.
Despite the fact that it continues to largely prohibit foreign tourists and international students from traveling to the country, China has branded travel restrictions imposed by other nations “unacceptable.”
China’s Covid outbreak is expected to get worse as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, when millions of people are expected to travel from the hardest-hit megacities to the countryside to visit elderly people who are in danger.
Additionally, Beijing’s Weibo service, which is similar to Twitter, announced the recent ban of 1,120 accounts for “offenses against experts and scholars” in an effort to quell criticism of the city’s chaotic exit from zero-Covid.
‘We just walked out’
On Sunday, barriers that used to separate domestic and international arrivals at Beijing airport were removed, as were the “big whites,” which were personnel dressed in hazmat suits for a long time in zero-Covid China.
The first thing they would do, according to one woman who was there to greet a friend from Hong Kong, would be to eat.
Wu, 20, told AFP, “It’s so great, we haven’t seen each other in so long.”
She continued, “They are studying over there, and we can meet directly in Beijing… It has been a year.”
A man with the surname Yang, who was arriving from the United States, stated that he had not been informed that the rules had changed at the Shanghai airport. He stated to AFP, “I had no idea.”
He continued, “I’d consider myself extremely lucky if I only need to do quarantine for two days.” As it turned out, “we just walked out like that, exactly like in the past,” and there was no paperwork required.
Another woman, whose identity was withheld, who was being picked up by her boyfriend, told AFP, “I’m quite happy not having to be in quarantine.”
“Who would want to be quarantined? Nobody.”
Hong Kong opens
As travel restrictions with the Chinese mainland were eased, visitors streamed across the border to Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city in the southern part of China.
Families are looking forward to reuniting over the Lunar New Year, and Hong Kong’s recession-hit economy is desperate to reconnect with its biggest source of growth.
According to official statistics, approximately 410,000 individuals in Hong Kong planned to travel north within the next two months, while approximately 7,000 individuals on the mainland planned to travel south on Sunday.
A postgraduate student from mainland China with the surname Zeng told AFP that they were happy to cross without any more restrictions at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint near Shenzhen.
Zeng stated to AFP, “I am happy as long as I don’t have to be quarantined — it was so unbearable.”
